Here I review two books by Dave Dempsey about Great Lakes natural history, folklore, and policies regarding exploitation, consumption, and diversion of freshwater resources.
First a brief bio. Dempsey has a master’s degree in resource development from Michigan State University, and has served as an adjunct instructor in environmental policy at MSU and Western Michigan University. He also served as policy adviser for the Michigan Environmental Council and the International Joint Commission. (The IJC is an independent organization charged with protecting the waters of the Great Lakes for both the United States and Canada.)
On the Brink: The Great Lakes in the 21st Century
By Dave Dempsey
Michigan State Univ Press, 2004, 288 pages
In this 2004 book, Dempsey weaves the natural history and folklore of the Great Lakes Basin into his account of environmental exploitation, disasters, damage, and (in some areas) recovery. He makes this history both engaging and relevant to today’s policy and legislative debates.
Dempsey contends that, despite great progress in the laws, alliances, and institutions protecting the five lakes in the last 50 years, those alliances and institutions are still dominated by people whose interests are served by exploiting the resources. His call action: The citizens who feel a growing sense of commitment to the lakes must challenge their leaders to foster greater awareness of the need to protect the ecosystem and preserve the precious resources.
This book was written in 2004, before the eight Great Lakes states ratified the Great Lakes Compact which regulates use and diversion of freshwater in the GLB. Nevertheless, as a GLB resident I found this book’s natural history and folklore content fascinating and valuable.
Great Lakes for Sale: From Whitecaps to Bottlecaps
By Dave Dempsey
University of Michigan Press, 2009, 136 pages
The Great Lakes contain an estimated 6 quadrillion gallons of fresh water. This once seemed like a limitless supply, enough to satisfy the needs of residents of the Great Lakes Basin and plenty left over to sell to arid states, and even other countries.
Now we are realizing the limits, in terms of commercialization and exploitation. This book examines various proposals for the export and diversion of Great Lakes water, some of which pose a long-term threat to the area’s natural resources (as well as human health); examines past and present water-diversion practices and fragile conservation coalitions; and suggests to readers how they can save this natural resource.
Human and corporate residents of this huge watershed will be drawn into conflicts over who may exploit, consume, and excrete into the lake freshwater, especially as it becomes scarcer elsewhere.
Peter Annin covers some of this ground in his 2018 book The Great Lakes Water Wars (Island Press, Washington DC). Still, this is a must read for Dave Dempsey fans. Dempsey is the author or coauthor of six four other conservation-oriented books besides these two, including:
Ruin and Recovery: Michigan's Rise as a Conservation Leader (University of Michigan Press, 2001)
The Waters of Michigan (with coauthor David Lubbers, Michigan State University Press, 2008)
Lake Nation: People and the Fate of the Great Lakes (self-published via CreateSpace, 2018)
About the reviewer: Dave Freedman has worked as a financial and legal journalist since 1978. He earned a bachelor's degree in geography from the University of Illinois in Chicago.